Michael Clayton

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CLAYTON READY FOR GLARE OF SPOTLIGHT
A curious newspaper reporter asked Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie wide receiver Michael Clayton if the Florida weather was any different than the weather in Baton Rouge, La., where he grew up and starred ...

CLAYTON READY FOR GLARE OF SPOTLIGHT
A curious newspaper reporter asked Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie wide receiver Michael Clayton if the Florida weather was any different than the weather in Baton Rouge, La., where he grew up and starred for LSU.

"It's a little hotter than back in Baton Rouge," he said, as the sweat beaded on his face. "But I'm getting used to it."

As Bucs mini-camp closed Thursday, it will only get hotter for Clayton, both literally and figuratively. The hot training camp sun of Orlando will beat down upon him in August, as will the spotlight from being a first-round draft pick in the middle of what has become a wide-open wideout competition.

Clayton said his indoctrination into head coach Jon Gruden's complex offensive scheme has gone well.

"At first, it was a little hard because I didn't know the concepts," he said. "I was basically learning my position.

"Now I'm starting to get relaxed about the concepts, about what everybody has," Clayton added. "And basically once you can line up right, when you know the concept, you know exactly what you have to do."

Both Gruden and receivers coach Richard Mann have been pleased with Clayton's progress since being drafted with the 15th pick. He possesses the size (6-foot-4), speed (4.45 in the 40-yard dash) and the playmaking ability they were looking for. He ended his career with the Tigers on top of the list in career touchdown catches, second in receptions, fourth in career receiving yards and helped the team to a share of the 2003 national title.

"I can best sum it up by what we saw is what we got," Mann told the
Naples Daily News. "We looked at a lot of tape like everybody did. At this point, what we saw is actually what we got. We still have to go to camp and get into where it's live bullets, but so far we've been pleasantly pleased."

Gruden has pulled Clayton aside for several one-on-one meetings this offseason, and Gruden said he liked what he saw in camp this past week.